Author Archives: KBarton10

Thanks, we needed that..

Gifts from the Wind God I’m still surveying the landscape changes from yesterday’s storm. I had the day off and a ringside seat to the festivities. I’m minus two fences, lost power for 14 hours, and received 3 new garbage cans from the Wind God, so I may have broken even.

Most of yesterday we received about 0.25 to 0.3 inches of rain per hour, and it was sorely needed as this winter has been as dry as any I can remember – delivered horizontal, due to the wind ranging from 40 to 60 mph, but we’re not going to quibble.

I’m guessing we may have to dig the Trout Underground out of a snowbank, if he received anything similar to what the valley got, we’ll have to locate him by his avalanche transponder.

I took a quick run out to the Little Stinking, and it’s now the Big Muddy. Swollen to about 4 times it’s normal size, and purging all of the instream debris into the Sacramento River. I guess if we’re going to see any salmon this year, it’ll be soon. Traditionally it runs at about 400 cfs, yesterday it peaked at 12,000 cfs, and is running at about 1400 cfs now.

Naturally the camera batteries were played out, I’ll make another run later just to record the high water mark. We got somewhere between 4″ and 6″ of rain yesterday, and the effects are obvious.

I think I’ll have to add 6 or 8 more turns of lead on my flies..

Technorati Tags: sacramento valley, tropical storm, wind god

Am I supposed to swipe it on a rock each time I thump a fish, or is that next

Recent statistics on outdoors usage suggests the non lethal forms of adventure are on the rise; bird watching, kayaking, etc. Little surprise that some enterprising government is quick to cash in on the phenomenon, I just figured we’d be the first to tax the outdoorsmen into oblivion.

Governments have never been shy about separating you from your money, licensing costs have been rising steadily for quite some time. Introducing the “Outdoors Card” a new levy from the Ontario government, required before you can purchase a fishing or hunting license.

Poorly named, as I can see Mothers sending their waif off to school, “..got your books, lunch, and scarf? …did you remember your Outdoor’s card?”

Fishing Card (valid for 3 calendar years)

Fishing Card Only – no licence
$5.88
Fishing Card with 3-year Conservation Fishing Licence
$47.10
Fishing Card with 3-year Sport Fishing Licence
$76.59

Naturally the above pricing is in Loonies, the Canadian dollar. We can expect to see similar treatment here in the states, hopefully the name will be less onerous, and remember to carry your wallet when you’re in your backyard.

If them fellows were really thinking, they would play to an angler’s vanity with “gold” and “platinum” cards. Most of us would pay the extra couple of bucks willingly if it was connected with consumption or weight.

Technorati Tags: outdoor card, ontario, tax levy, hate those

Sometimes it’s more than a new license required, spend a moment to check

He ain't smiling, and that's a bad sign Just a gentle reminder to review your angling regulations, as assumption can get you sidewise with the authorities. It’s customary for January 1st to be the introduction of new angling regulations, and many states have made changes that are small, but noteworthy.

In California, new “punchcard” rules are in affect that require anglers to report on all abalone, steelhead, lobster, and in the Klamath watershed, salmon that are caught and kept. Abalone must be tagged with the appropriate documentation when in possession, and anglers are required to carry the “punchcard” at all times.

Tags are required for a second rod in inland waterways, excluding single barbless, artificial only water.

It’ll only take a minute to get acquainted with new rules, most wildlife agencies have their new changes on the home page.

Technorati Tags: fishing regulations, california fishing punchcard, licensing changes

A Sailor would blanch at the string of epithets I launched

Here's three more of them It’s editorial prerogative to have “moments” – a fit of pique that prompts you to hurl a magazine across the room, vowing never to buy another. It wasn’t the magazines fault, it was the vendor advertisement that was the source of my ire.

Two fellows in a drift boat with the appropriate wading ensemble:

WHAT YOU SAY

I don’t care how many fish I catch, it’s just great to be out here on the water.

WHAT YOU MEAN

I’ve hooked seven and you’ve only hooked one.

Once it was the sport of Earls, Dukes, and Kings – now it’s just another counting exercise followed by a reason to tailgate others on the freeway. We’ve covered the counting issue before, as has the Trout Underground, but is that all that Madison Avenue can glean from the entire experience?

I find some guy I don’t particularly care for, take him out far enough so his Blackberry phone has no coverage, then piss on him about his skills until he slugs me?

…I probably have to work with him come Monday, so in addition to getting him burnt by the sun, not sharing the good flies, depriving him of Starbucks, and living off of Chicken Fried Steak cooked by teenagers, I am going to sum up his entire existence and find him wanting?

Pals can piss on each other with impunity, but these lads sound more like they’re dating.

Hey Mister Fatuous, obtuse, know-it-all, metrosexual, pissant – your idea of the Great Outdoors is throwing your dog’s crap over your neighbors fence, and hoping he doesn’t notice. You understand NOTHING, and a majestic panorama, an arrowhead, a glimpse of a real bear, a sunset, a solitary quail call, none of this will you comprehend, none will give cause for thought or pause your march back to your BMW.

I bet you put Ketchup on Steak.

…well, we covered the guy that thought up the ad, now about them guys in the boat…

Technorati Tags: pissed

It’s OK you didn’t miss a thing

In stream structure, the biggest fish prefer GM products though For them as resolved to do more fishing in 2008, you were slow getting out of the sack and I beat you to it. You missed nothing, although it was reminiscent of a scene from “I am Legend.”

Thick layer of frost on the ground at 0600, colder than blazes (for California) and I had to let the windshield defrost enough to be function before hitting the road. No humans on the road, nothing stirring at all, just the way I like it.

Another fishless prototype I had two dozen experimental flies to test on fish, mostly copper wire creations, as I had received 18000 feet of 36 gauge Ultrawire from an electronics supply house. I always liked the “Copper John” fly, and made up some caddis and mayfly imitations using mostly copper wire.

I’m testing a theory, actually just confirming some laziness on my part. Rather than make a “bead head” version of a traditional pattern, I wanted to see the aerodynamic and fishing qualities of using a traditional pattern and stringing the bead on the leader – not attaching it to the fly at all.

Seems silly to have to tie the same flies twice, once with the bead, once without – and being a minimalist (lazy) by nature, it seemed like a hell of an idea.

He figured the Mice may be slower after so much celebrating I hadn’t been downstream in a couple months, and figured my battle with “Old Nondescript” could wait another week, there was still about 2 miles of river I hadn’t seen between my access point and another further down.

Nothing stirring, no fish activity of any kind. I could see an occasional fish huddled on the bottom unmoving, so I flung copper stuff at branches and headed south.

I’ll spare you the picture of the dead goat in the middle of the river, and the floating tabby cat (who had seen better days), it just served to remind me how “below the bridge” is the debris field for everything that doesn’t sell on Ebay.

The “strung bead” theory works fine, it casts just like a beaded fly, seems to behave well underwater, so that was a happy conclusion to the physics portion. I still hadn’t raised a fish so my copper flies were still in “beta.”

I covered the two miles down to the other gravel elevator with nary a nibble. The fish were asleep and I started heading North to the car. I found a couple of nice pools and saw nothing in them, so I took the hint.

Outside of “Corky” the floating feline, the only live critter was a monstrous owl that sat in the tree above me, giving me that vaguely disinterested look as it puffed itself into a round ball. It was too cold for him as well.

Technorati Tags: fishing, fly fishing, skunked, New Year’s Day

Hell, we tried lawyers a dozen times, maybe a fisherman would bring some marketable skills

It’s officially an election year, and we’re about to be courted by all the candidates and their apparatchik. Each campaign has a smartly dressed fellow with a overly stuffed briefcase methodically checking off the the important voting blocks each candidate has to acknowledge.

We’ve seen it in prior elections; a baseball cap doffed in Iowa, a tank driven in Michigan, a Hummer valet parked in California – each photo opportunity carefully crafted to appeal to some minute segment of society, “Vote for me, ’cause I’m like you..”

Fishermen are one of those demographics that will get addressed later in the year, the larger blocks of voters get first “dibs.” The question for us is “exactly what does a fisherman president bring, that a non fisherman wouldn’t?”

I’m not talking about the obvious stuff, the Right to Arm Bears, or any of the controversial nonsense, I’m talking about character.

I’ve fished with most socio-economic levels, professions, and all four sexes, so I was mentally comparing common traits, a good president doesn’t need to be a fisherman, but there are some innate talents anglers have that’d be beneficial for a senior statesman.

Whenever they renegotiate the next SALT treaty, I’d rather have a fisherman at the table, as he can mention that we’ve got a space based death ray, and can do it with a straight face. Fishermen don’t see a small exaggeration as lying, and that’ll come in real handy.

The Republicans appear to be beating each other over the head with the immigration issue, a fisherman president would solve that in a fortnight, as over-limit may be embarrassing but it’s still a good thing.

Vote I’m thinking the federal deficit would still be an issue, especially if they stock the Executive washroom with Orvis catalogs, and the Iraqi conflict would be settled in a week, as there isn’t any gamefish worth the continued expenditure.

It would be gratifying to have a “rip snorter” president akin to Teddy Roosevelt, them powderpuffs that inhabit the Beltway would have to lobby whilst swatting mosquitos, a welcome change from conducting state business in a Minneapolis washroom.

But don’t expect to see any trout fishermen, “America’s Fish” is now the Largemouth Bass, so we’ll likely see more wake then wading, it’ll play well with them Southern fellows, and we’ll have to determine who can tie a clinch knot via television special.

Technorati Tags: election, apparatchik, fishermen voters, seduction of the innocent

I’m talking America’s Fly, not the unzipped kind

I never had a problem with the Dallas Cowboy’s until someone started calling them “America’s Team,” then I started to dislike them. While loyal to their cheerleaders, it wasn’t enough to remain impartial.

Now we get “America’s Fish” the Largemouth Bass. I always thought the largemouth was an entertaining and noble fish, now I’m going to be forced to hate them too. I’m assuming that since the Feds posted the statistics on fishing, some canny fellow has determined that we spend more money on Bass fishing, therefore it’s everyone’s favorite.

Good idea, but a poor application of statistics. That would make the Toyota Camry, “America’s Car” and Microsoft Windows, “America’s Most Reviled Operating System.”

I think the problem lies when someone tries to think for me, I get my hackles up and start dragging my feet, the object then takes on a sinister form, a conformist’s merit badge.

But that does beg the question, despite your involuntary shudder, is there an “America’s Fly ?” Based on the traditional Japanese “bubble pack” assortment it would have to be the Coachman, Yellow Sally, or the Parmachene Belle. Not a bad lot, but methinks it short of the mark.

It’s hard enough thinking like me, so I won’t think for you. If I was guessing, it would likely be an Adams. Steeped in nobility; two presidents, a biblical figure, and a pretty fair beer shares the name, not a bad choice.

Technorati Tags: adams, america’s fly, dallas cowboy cheerleaders

Dogs living with Cats, and trout are pests

Things have come full circle We’ve come full circle now, and anglers around Melbourne are incensed that trout are about to be purged from Australian waters.

The popular game fish has been declared an alien species and put on a hit-list for eradication in a move that has outraged anglers.

Trout would be culled from major Victorian rivers such as the Murray, Goulburn and Yarra, despite the Brumby Government pouring about 400,000 trout into our waterways each year.

Native fish recovery means the trout are interlopers and will be removed from the watershed. An interesting quandary, as we’ve studied all the things necessary to promote trout habitat, now we’ll see how resilient the species is when systematically purged.

Trout were introduced in Australia in the 1870’s, similar well meaning anglers did likewise in California and other parts of the US, pushing the native trout out of most of the watershed.

Is this the start of something larger? Genetic manipulation of crops and animals have been front page news for some time, will this be championed by the eco-radicals into something bigger, a return to historical species and populations, despite many of the original strains extinct or hybridized?

Nothing surprises me anymore.

Technorati Tags: trout pests, native fish recovery, australia

Sorry, I’ll take my chances with the trees

The grocery clerk was ill prepared for Singlebarbed repartee, he’d asked whether I wanted “paper or plastic,” and I’d responded, ” choose between a Pterodactyl or a pine tree? You pick, let the guilt be on your conscience.. ”

From now on I’ll be much gentler, he still percolates his coffee, mine has the bark on..

I’ll decimate Pine trees until something worse happens. Reading an article on the North Pacific Gyre, aided my resolve to get all my groceries in paper. Even a hardened fisherman can have a twinge of conscience as we’ve done it to ourselves. The “Gyre” is roughly the “center” of the Pacific Ocean, bounded by Asia, Australia, and North America, that serves as an airless meeting point for the coastal currents. It’s the Elephant Graveyard of Plastic, a soup of castoff consumer plastics the size of Texas.

Traditional plastics don’t degrade, they just get brittle – and over time the ocean is filled with tiny plastic fragments that linger on the surface, brightly colored bits of debris that lure birds and fish into feeding on them.

It’s pretty damn disgusting to contemplate, eyewitness accounts describe, “a half mile of Taco Bell wrappers” they had to sail through. Most of the debris is washed into the ocean via normal winter rains, it’s not simply a case of wanton garbage disposal, more of a phenomenon induced by the longevity of the material. “Every piece of plastic ever made is still here..”

Revenge of the Pterodactyl, I’ll take my chances with the Pine tree..

(YouTube video available here)

Technorati Tags: North Pacific Gyre, ocean of plastic, pterodactyl

Adopting a creek may mean adopting the neighborhood

You may need to go further afield Reclamation of natural streams within the confines of Seattle has been an ongoing project for over a decade, results have been released in a report outlining many of the ills, successes, and cost of the effort.

Entitled “State of the Waters 2007,” the report outlines what you may suspect; treatment of the streams and banks can restore some of the balance of nature, but the original problems remain, runoff from city streets carrying a blend of industrial chemicals, and as the surrounding areas are completely paved, the volume of water entering the recovering waterway can scour it clean of life.

With normal rainfall, and 60% of the watershed covered in pavement, the report estimates that the water volume in the creek channel to be 4 to 5 times that of the same watershed if forested. “Bank armoring” to protect homeowners from erosion, add measurably to the problem.

Bank restoration and instream rip-rap have been part of the “restoration arsenal” for many years. Many angling clubs have yearly outings to assist state agencies in cleanup and restoration efforts. The report suggests that many in-stream issues cannot be addressed by working on the obvious stuff; trash removal, adding gravel for spawning, etc. Many issues have roots hundreds of yards from the actual watercourse.

But the creeks and lakes would never be mistaken for pristine, no matter how much time and money are invested.

It’s a subject dear to me as I fish a similar creek nearby. While it is not confined by the city, it shares many of the same issues. An interesting read, especially if your club is considering “adopting” a creek nearby.

Technorati Tags: stream restoration, state of the waters, seattle, bank armoring